Arizona Mom Fighting VBAC Ban

1 October 2009, 5:47 pm

Joy Szabo, mother of three, is fighting back against her local hospital that has banned vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC). Even though she has already had one VBAC, lowering her risk for uterine rupture, Page Hospital of Lake Powell, AZ will not allow her to have another.

“My doctor doesn’t have a problem with me having natural delivery, but said that the hospital does,” Joy said. “The fact that I successfully had a VBAC two years ago lowers my risk for rupture, but that doesn’t matter since the hospital has decided that all VBACs have to have an ‘elective c-section.’ I think my definition of ‘elective’ differs from theirs because I don’t want this.”

Read the full story here. For a comprehensive look at VBAC bans across the United States, visit ICAN’s VBAC Policy Database. According to ICAN’s 2008 survey, approximately 30% of all U.S. hospitals have policies against VBAC.